Well, the bags are in the car. We are leaving for the airport in just a few minutes! We’ve checked and rechecked our luggage to make sure we haven’t forgotten anything. Kelley’s made sure we have our passports at least a dozen times!
Well, we’re in our final phases of trip preparation. Our bags are (mostly) packed and all travel plans have been taken care of. Kelley picks her mother up from the airport on Tuesday so she can dog-sit while we’re gone. Today we’ve been cleaning the house and gathering up any little things we want to take with us.
If you’ve been reading our plans, you know that our upcoming trip to Japan is being planned to coincide with the blooming of the cherry blossoms (sakura). Predicting when the sakura will bloom can be iffy; weather plays a large part. Well, the Cherry Blossom Forecast is out, and it looks like most of our trip is timed perfectly. Most destinations we will be smack dab in the middle of prime viewing. Only Tokyo will we be arriving just a little late. We expected that, and we should still catch the tail end of the blossoms (We actually like it at the end of the blooming because the petals fall like snow).
Well, our trip has changed shape a bit from the last time we posted. Kelley was researching train travel times between some of our destinations and a few days were a little too train-heavy. We had to make a difficult decision-cut out Yakushima, an island off the southern tip of Kyushu. Our original trip had us there for three nights; this trip we would only have been able to do two. It would have been rushed to do everything we wanted. And, the ferry and then train to Yufuin would have been ungodly long. We would only have a day to relax and then another long train to Kyoto. It was hard because we really want to go to Yakushima, but I think that will have to wait until we have more time to spend there. We can fly there from Tokyo so it will definitely be doable even if we don’t want to go through Kyushu again.
Thought I’d add a few tips for planning a trip to Japan. I’ll be adding to this as time goes on.
Passport Living is our personal travel blog where we share details of our adventures in travel around the world. Follow us as we take pictures, review hotels, share travel tips, blog, and more!
Contact us for more information!
